Sabalenka Hopes For Own Nike Line As She Draws Inspiration From Sharapova
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka is dealing with the pressure of trying to secure the year-end No. 1 ranking at the WTA Finals, but she still took an opportunity to discuss her love of fashion.
Sabalenka is just two victories away from guaranteeing she will finish 2024 as the No. 1. She defeated Qinwen Zheng for a fourth time this season in her opening WTA Finals match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This year's Australian Open and US Open champion needs just two more victories in the round-robin stage against Jasmine Paolini on Monday and Elena Rybakina on Wednesday to ensure Iga Swiatek cannot overtake her at No. 1 before 2024 ends.
Sabalenka has openly admitted that finishing as the year-end No. 1 is a big goal. Considering the stakes are so high, it is incredible how calm the 26-year-old appears off the court.
The most prominent example was Sabalenka and Swiatek recording a TikTok together before the WTA Finals began. That collaboration between the top-ranked WTA players in the world received a highly positive reaction from fans.
Sabalenka has also praised Saudi Arabia's effort when hosting sports events and does not have any issues with competing in the country despite the human rights concerns some hold.
Becoming the year-end No. 1 is something Sabalenka is passionate about. However, one of her other passions in life outside of tennis is fashion, which she discussed at the WTA Finals.
The three-time Grand Slam winner admits that having her own fashion line is something she dreams about. That is why Sabalenka regularly rings her agent, who works at Nike, with ideas for dresses.
"Fashion is something I’m really crazy about. I really hope that one day I’ll have my own line. I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking about that too much…maybe not too much, but a lot, and it’s one of my dreams."
“I’m creating a lot of dresses in my head and messaging Keisha, my agent at Nike, like, ‘Girl, I came up with another idea!’ I see a lot of new things in fashion; I follow it a lot and I like it."
Sabalenka revealed she would love to have a designer to help her with dresses before stating Maria Sharapova, who was infamous for being fashionable on and off the court, is an inspiration.
"Somehow, those inspire me to come up with ideas for my own dresses. Ideally, I’d like a designer to help me make something cool. I think a lot about different materials, fabrics, the way certain prints open up parts of the body in classic or unique ways."
“I’m not a big fan of a lot of colors. I like more classic colors. I’m more about putting things in the right silhouette and mixing with materials. I think there was a lot of cool stuff Nike did with Maria Sharapova,” she said. “Her dresses were the best, because they were about being classic, elegant, but at the same time still, really cool.”
The world No. 1 is already very busy from life on the tennis tour, but figures like Sharapova and Serena Williams proved it is possible to be a tennis player and have interests outside the sport.
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